CalWac2 Notes: The Web Devlopment Toolkit: Tools and Tricks of the Trade

This session covered web development/QA tools (mostly Firefox extensions), streamlining the web production process, and creating a framework/styleguide for web production to support workflow and ensure that QA and accessibility testing are not overlooked.

Topics stressed in the presentation:

Create a Framework for web development projects which includes:

clear standards for the XHTML pages or templates as they are being created

standard set of tools used by every production artist to perform their work

a list of supported client operating systems and
browsers that will be tested during production

supported testing and validation tools

Streamline the web development process:

create a set of reusable site design structures and make them accessible to web development staff.

create CSS modules that are used regularly and import them:

Core: forms, printing, typography

Layout: styles for handling around 15 standard layouts

Presentational: Styles for handling the visual and
color differences between templates that create the look and feel.

Navigational: Basic styles for handling the different vertical, and horizontal navigation systems

Testing and development tools included:

Firefox extensions:

CSS viewer

Firebug (great tool - inspects javascript, xhtml, and css for debugging when you hover over page)